


No Basis For a System of Government

by Peapods



Category: Merlin (BBC)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-30
Updated: 2010-01-30
Packaged: 2017-10-06 20:59:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peapods/pseuds/Peapods
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They're sitting on the ground waiting for a moistened bint to lob a sword in their direction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Basis For a System of Government

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Gratuitous "Monty Python" references.

Merlin sighed and once again regretted that he had not thought to bring a book.

"So, this watery tart is supposed to chuck a sword at me?" Arthur had asked, incredulously. Merlin had resisted the urge to beat his prince for being so monumentally insensitive, but didn't want to have to explain _why_ he was so insensitive.

And now here they sat. Dead of the night, cold and wet, waiting for Freya to take five minutes out of her busy schedule to lob a scimitar in Arthur's direction.

"Why throw it here, anyway?"

Merlin shrugged, "Didn't think anyone would bother with it." Arthur shrugs, a silent agreement with Merlin's assessment. This particular lake was odd, foggy and generally bad fishing. No one much bothered with it. Except Merlin, it seemed. Sentimental value and all that rubbish.

"So, you made this for me?" Arthur asked, recrossing his legs.

"During the battle with the Black Knight," Merlin told him. Merlin hadn't changed an iota in the years since he'd come to Camelot. His face had lost none of the softness of youth where Arthur's jaw had only become more defined, the circles under his eyes deepened. Arthur sometimes wondered if Merlin would ever change.

"My father fought with the sword?"

"Yes, he wasn't supposed to, but I didn't know he and Gaius had drugged you. It wasn't his to use."

"Because you made it for me," Arthur stated again, prompting Merlin to send him a confused look.

"Yes."

"How? And why didn't you just make a new one after you got rid of this one?"

Merlin squirmed, "I wasn't the one who made it what it is."

Arthur needed only a moment to come to the most logical conclusion, "The dragon."

Merlin's silence was enough of an indictment but the sad tilt of his head, the tight, almost smile. "He made it for you, so we could fulfill our destiny."

"Yea, I'm fairly certain the dragon is addled from living underground too long. Last week I saw him perched on an oak singing ballads."

"He's always been a little, you know," Merlin said, waving a hand in a vague way. It could have meant "fey" or "crazy."

They fell silent again as the lake didn't stir and mystical doings didn't happen.

"Listen, is she having a lie-in or something?" Arthur asked. "Only, my bum is starting to hurt from the chain mail digging in."

"You didn't have to get on your full kit," Merlin argued.

"And go wandering back into Camelot carrying a magical sword in my night clothes? Yes, that would have been quite impressive."

He was already showing himself to be an amazing king, but sometimes Arthur was still a bit of an arrogant prat.

"Speaking of which, why don't we have anyone else with us? People are hardly going to believe I got this sword through some farcical aquatic ceremony."

Merlin sighed and rolled his eyes. "This isn't something I particularly want people to know about. The sword is fine, but not the Lady," that's what he called Freya now. It not only made things less problematic but assigned her a status that Merlin had always thought she deserved. A part of him still sort of loved her. A part of him couldn't believe there was room left in his heart for anyone but Arthur.

The egotistical ass.

"They're going to figure you went swimming for it and yet here you sit, dry as a bone."

"Don't even think of lobbing me into the water," Merlin warned him. "If you want me to come up with some other story about how you got it, fine, but the Lady is no one else's business."

"Something manly and impossible," Arthur suggested.

"What? Like pulling it out of rock or some rubbish?"

"Like that's anymore unbelievable than some strange woman who lies around in a pond and goes around distributing swords?"

"Fair point."

"Thank you."

The lake was beginning to stir and the clouds parted over the full moon and the Lady's hand broke the surface, holding Excaliber aloft, water running down the gleaming blade and her nearly translucent arm. More of her body showed itself and Merlin was taken aback at how otherworldly she looked compared to the homely beauty he remembered.

"You're an absolute prat, Arthur," she said, her voice dreamy and high.

"You two need to stop hanging out," Arthur told Merlin, "She's taken up your attitude."

Merlin didn't deign that with a response.

"Oy! You going to give him the sword or what?" Merlin yelled. Freya's face contorted a bit.

"You sure he deserves it?"

"Not a matter of deserving! It's his!"

"Yeah, see? It's mine!" Arthur added, unhelpfully.

Merlin rolled his eyes, "Anyway, I've a dragon who'll have things to say if anyone other than Arthur wields that sword."

"I like the dragon. He has a nice voice," Freya told them, sword swaying back and forth in her hand in a faintly hypnotic fashion. Arthur's head was rocking back and forth as his eyes followed the blade. It made him look slow.

"Yeah, he's a real artist. Listen, we haven't got all day," Merlin said, "Or, you know, night. And it's bloody cold."

"He's rubbing off on you," she said accusingly before releasing the sword. It hovered in the air for a moment before speeding to them. "Now, leave me alone. I've a novel I'm working on and you interrupted me writing the sex scene."

Merlin closed his eyes in embarrassment for a moment. When he opened them, Arthur's face was lit supernaturally by the sword as it lingered before him. His face was transformed into pleased wonder and Merlin didn't stop his own smile from growing.

"Go on, then."

He took it. There were no bells and whistles and no stars danced, but Merlin could swear he felt something in the earth simply _swell_.

"This is awesome."

Well, it wasn't exactly a line that would go down in history as great oratory. But at least what it lacked in majesty was made up with accuracy.

"Totally awesome."


End file.
